Visit to Baby-Doll
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: After being released into the world and struggling to adjust to life without acting, Mary Dahl the former actress gets a visit from an old co-star.


I don't own Batman in any way, but I do like having fun writing stories.

I've always loved the Baby-Doll character, and it is just so sad to see someone go through so much when all she wants is love and attention.

Enjoy and please let me know what you think.

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Visit to Baby-Doll.

_I used to be one of the most loved celebrities ever, now look at me; a pint-sized receptionist at a grotty little hotel, the only place that would accept me after I left Arkham. Still, I'd rather be here than in that place with all the rest of the freaks, _Mary Dahl thought to herself as she sat on her high stool reading a book. It might not be seen by the other hotel staff as a particularly good business practice, but Mary found herself not caring. It was an extremely quiet day which allowed her to read at her leisure, and besides she could lose herself in the pages of a good book, it was the only release she had since her time as an actress had died a painful death.

She wasn't bothered about where her thoughts had been leading to, she had been thinking them ever since her release; she was just thankful that her mental state after giving up on her acting career after that horrible mess with that awful _Macbeth _production and trying to revitalise her old show which had ended in a total misery had been relatively easy for the doctors to help.

When someone came to relieve her, Mary was happy to let someone else take over. She hopped off of the stool, ignoring the reaction of the replacement. She had been on the receiving end of a number of smirks and chuckles as everyone took in her child-like form which made her grown-up voice seem ridiculous.

Mary had lived with it her entire life ever since she had been diagnosed with a systemic Hypoplasia condition which meant that she would not age physically beyond the age of five. What made it more painful was the fact while her mind and intellect had continued to age and her voice had deepened, her body refused to age. Finding out there was no way to treat her condition had been a bitter pill she had needed to swallow, but Mary had done her best to make something good out of it, which was why it had been painful when she had lost her acting career.

As she left the hotel she had been working in, pleased by the quiet anonymity she now had, Mary sat on a park bench armed with her ID in case someone got the wrong idea, which had happened frequently over the years, and believed she was just a child, she began eating her lunch. When she was finished she headed back to work.

She was just walking to the door when she heard a voice behind her.

"So, this is where you're working at now."

Mary stiffened when she heard that familiar voice. She turned around slowly and looked up into the face of Tammy Vance.

"Hello, Tammy," Mary said hesitantly, wondering what the young woman wanted. If she was going to shout and yell at her, then Mary would probably leave and hide someplace.

"I was just passing by when I saw you, Mary," Tammy said in a friendly manner, but Mary could see it was spoiled slightly by the look of pity that was there, just in the eyes. It kinda belied the pity. "I just stopped by to say hello."

_More than anyone else has, _Mary thought to herself bitterly.

No-one had been sympathetic to her when she had lost her acting career after that mess of trying to keep "Love that Baby" going which had failed, and everything else which had gone wrong. But it was after she had been incarcerated that Mary suddenly realised how alone she was. None of her original castmates wanted anything to do with her after she had kidnapped them and tried to force them to live out her fantasies where she was loved and lauded over, and not reviled and hated.

Mary had made many mistakes in her life, pushing the limits was one of them, though she knew it was because the show had gone on too long, and the ratings were plummeting down to almost nothing, which was why she had quit the show in a fit of rage after she had her head dunked into a cake.

But she had done all that when she had been younger, she hadn't understood the consequences. But the bitterest pill to swallow was her level of acting was only good for comedy sitcoms which ran for a finite amount of time, and she had failed to become a truly serious actress.

The rest of the cast of "Love that Baby" had their own lives, but whether or not they had been informed about her release, Mary simply didn't know and didn't really care.

Realising she had been silent for too long, Mary did her best to smile at Tammy. "Thank you," she said as sweetly as she could; she was tempted to ask Tammy what she was doing now, but she knew if she did that she might hear her talk about acting. Mary thought it was a bad idea; she had a terrible temper at the best of times, and unlike the rest of her former cast, Tammy had been more sympathetic towards her problems during the waning years of the show.

Suddenly at an awkward loss of things to say, Tammy looked at the hotel and she felt sorry for Mary; even after everything she had done, kidnapping her and the others and threatening them with harm, she would never have wanted Mary to live like this.

"So, this is where you're working now?" she asked, knowing she was stating the obvious and more than aware there was a horrible chance she would be pissing Mary off, but she had to risk it.

Mary glanced over her shoulder, and nodded, "Yeah," she said quietly. "The only place that would have me. Anyway, it's a quiet life, it pays my bills, and keeps me busy."

Now Tammy felt even sorrier for her old co-star. "I'm sorry," she apologised.

Mary looked her straight in the face. "It's okay," she said, but she was unable to hide the undertone of bitterness in her voice. She looked down at the floor. "I just wish things were different."

"In what way?"

"I wish I hadn't acted like a bitch," Tammy almost started at the word, it was so **bizarre **hearing that curse coming from a tiny girl, but she knew this was no child. She was a fully grown woman trapped in a girl's body, "I wish I had told the studios I wanted to branch out more, maybe get a few dramatic roles. But I didn't. I was so at home on the set, with you and the others. I didn't want it to end."

Tammy sighed under her breath. "But it did end, Mary," she pointed out, knowing this was going to be an even more painful topic to cover, and she honestly wished she hadn't even started it. "Not all of it was your fault," she confessed, making the smaller woman look up at her in surprise. Tammy sighed again, this time really regretting the conversation.

"The show had been going on for a long time, and the rest of us were growing tired of the role," she said, tactfully not saying that many of the cast were becoming tied of Mary and her demands which were growing more and more outrageous by the day, which made working on the set increasingly uncomfortable. "I wanted to have a different career to acting; while I liked it, I wanted my own life. I'm not trying to be nasty, we've passed that point a long time ago, but I wasn't like you, Mary. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you."

Mary looked down, deeply touched someone was speaking to her in this manner. "Thank you."

Tammy held out a card. "My phone number," she said, "if you're feeling down, then give me a call."

Mary looked at the card with tears in her eyes, the image alone making Tammy's own heartache. She had known the other woman had been left alone by the others, but now she was seeing Mary Dahl was not was monster.

She was a lonely person trying to get by in the world.


End file.
